It was a good day for killing.
The natural rain would wash away many traces, leaving behind no fluctuations of Dao art residue.
On such a day of torrential downpour, Jiang Chen sat cross-legged alone, a faint killing intent stirring in his heart.
He neither restrained it nor resisted it.
Ever since the day Maple City met its calamity, he had been seized by the urge to kill.
But a gentleman hides his edge and waits for the right moment.
Now was indeed not the right time to kill.
Coming to the State of Yang to handle matters of this azure stone mine was primarily a chance to lie low and cultivate in seclusion. To realize his potential as soon as possible and convert all his recent gains into combat strength.
Yet even here, things were not as peaceful as he had imagined.
The ship wished to dock, but the waves would not cease.
...
In the Blessed Land of Lanke Mountain, the Sword Dueling Platform whistled into the starry river.
【Heaven-Piercing Realm Match Challenge, Begin!】
It was no exaggeration to say that Jiang Chen was now considered one of the top cultivators in the Heaven-Piercing realm.
Even in a place teeming with geniuses like the Ethereal Realm, he won more often than he lost.
After ten rounds, he had lost only one. He figured a few more rounds would see him enter the top one hundred and display his ranking.
The cost of the Sword Dueling Platform was borne by the loser.
A Seventh-Rank Sword Dueling Platform yielded forty points of Merit per victory. Of course, once lost, one would lose both the cost of the Seventh-Rank Sword Dueling Platform and the lost Merit, a total loss of eighty points.
After the matches concluded, Jiang Chen had won a total of two hundred and eighty points of Merit, a small but welcome boost. His total Merit had once again broken the four thousand mark, reaching four thousand and eighty points.
Of course, just like Chong Xuan Sheng, to conceal his identity, he had refrained from using his three personally created sword techniques in the matches.
After all, through the Tianfu Secret Realm and the Lian Clan's Ancestral Ceremony, he had already entered the sight of many, both openly and covertly.
Once a trump card was seen, it was no longer a trump card.
Among the Dao arts Jiang Chen currently mastered, whether it was Flamebloom, the Sea of Blossoms, the Crown of Thorns, or Binding Tiger, none were exclusive secret arts that would expose his identity. The Violet Dawn Sword Art infused into every move was the same.
Together, they formed his complete current combat system. Sword arts and the two elemental paths of fire and wood advanced in parallel, complementing each other.
If in the Roaming Meridian and Zhou Heavenly realms, the top one hundred of the Ethereal Realm was already the limit,
Then in the Heaven-Piercing realm, he wanted to test his strength against the very first in the rankings.
This process would certainly not be simple.
But it would definitely be interesting.
...
For the next few days, Jiang Chen obediently stayed in his quarters, practicing behind closed doors every day.
He didn't want to appear eager about the mine's affairs, strictly adhering to the duty of a stationed cultivator to remain aloof from matters that didn't concern him.
In the interim, aside from Steward Hu finding an excuse to visit once, nothing else happened. All was peaceful.
To outsiders, Dugu An had quickly adapted to life in the mining district.
On the fifth day, Jiang Chen found Steward Hu and expressed his desire to visit Jiacheng.
Transcendent cultivators in the mine were entitled to five days of leave each month, free to come and go as they pleased. As long as their rest times were staggered to ensure that transcendent cultivators were always present to guard the mine, it was fine.
Other cultivators usually chose the end of the month, escorting the miners back to town before going about their own business.
But Jiang Chen, having just arrived, wanting to go out, get some fresh air, and see the sights of Jiacheng was perfectly normal.
Steward Hu naturally wouldn't refuse Jiang Chen's reasonable request. He didn't have the courage, and merely instructed Jiang Chen to return early.
For this trip, Jiang Chen brought the maidservant Xiaoxiao along, and also asked for Shuanzi, who was at Steward Hu's side, to help drive the carriage.
They didn't stop at Qingyang Town. After leaving the mine, they headed directly for Jiacheng.
...
Jiang Chen had barely left when Ge Heng sought out Steward Hu.
"You didn't deliver that jar of wine?"
Ge Heng's eyes were cold and sinister, making Steward Hu's heart shudder.
He swore solemnly. "Heaven and earth bear witness, I did!"
"Then why is he still alive and kicking?"
"I'm just an ordinary man, how would I know your cultivator lord's business? Did he perhaps see through it?"
"Nonsense! As long as you don't leak it here, how could our Greenwood Immortal Gate's secret art possibly be detected?"
"Lord Ge, how would I dare leak your matters? Isn't that right?" Steward Hu wiped his sweat and said cautiously, "Could it be he doesn't drink?"
"He's gone now, I'll go ask that girl. She wouldn't dare lie to me!"
"Xiaoxiao also went into the city with Dugu An..."
"She's so favored?" Ge Heng instantly flew into a rage. "She goes weak in the knees at the sight of a young, handsome man, but plays the virtuous widow in front of me!"
Bang!
A palm struck down, and the table in front of him instantly disintegrated, scattering wood splinters everywhere.
Steward Hu was startled and didn't dare make a sound.
At that moment, a voice came from outside the door. "Old Ge, what's got you in a temper again?"
Ge Heng didn't want to reveal his plot to poison Jiang Chen. He reined in his temper and said coldly, "Zhang Hai, shouldn't you be in your room cultivating your pill properly? Why are you running around?"
"Asked Old Hu to buy some medicinal herbs for me," Zhang Hai said casually, walking into the room.
He glanced at the wood splinters on the floor. "Oh my, what happened here."
"It's nothing, it's nothing," Steward Hu said with an ingratiating smile. "This table was just too flimsy."
Ge Heng said nothing more, merely casting a noncommittal glance at Zhang Hai before turning and leaving.
Steward Hu let out a sigh of relief. Among the few cultivators at the mine, only this Zhang Hai was somewhat normal.
Aside from his unrealistic daily hope of refining some miraculous pill and ascending to the heavens in one step, he had no other shortcomings.
The man only cared about his own pills, and all the Dao Essence Stones he had accumulated were invested entirely into alchemy.
The other two: one named Xiang Qian wore a perpetual look of despondency and lethargy, no one knew how he had become transcendent. The other was this Ge Heng, quick-tempered and prone to violence and abuse.
Sometimes when Ge Heng went too far, Xiang Qian was too indifferent to care, but Zhang Hai would sometimes speak up if he couldn't stand it.
Usually, Ge Heng would also give Zhang Hai face.
All in all, life in the mine was largely peaceful, and being the mine's steward was considered a rather cushy job.
After living here for so long, Steward Hu was truly reluctant to break this peace.
Although this mine vein was soon to be exhausted, before that happened, he hoped everything could be maintained as it was.
This was the little dignity and decorum he had left.
...
As the carriage moved along, wisps of floral fragrance wafted out.
Jiang Chen took the opportunity to cast the Sea of Blossoms.
This Dao art was best suited for handling group battles; fully deployed, it created a temporary battlefield. Jiang Chen made a minor adjustment now, using only a portion of its power, focusing on its hallucinatory effect to ask for some intelligence.
It had no effect on transcendent cultivators, of course, but against ordinary people, it worked just fine.
"Shuanzi, who do you fear most in the entire mine?"
Shuanzi had long run errands with Steward Hu and was very familiar with the situation at the Hu Family Mine.
Jiang Chen had specifically asked for him to temporarily serve as the coachman, precisely to be able to ask a few questions without drawing attention.
He started with a simple question to test the effectiveness of the Dao art.
For ordinary people, a Upper-tier Grade B Dao art was far too powerful. If not handled carefully, it could easily cause irreversible damage.
The carriage moved slowly forward. Shuanzi, without thinking much, blurted out instinctively, "The young master."
"The young master?" Jiang Chen was stunned. He had expected the answer to be that old man surnamed Ge. "Which young master?"
"The county head's son, Hu Shaomeng of the Hu family."
"Why are you afraid of him?"
Shuanzi's body began to tremble. "I saw him kill someone!"
"Saw him kill who?"
"I... I..." Shuanzi's expression turned to one of extreme terror, and his emotions became agitated.
In mid-air, the illusory flowers swayed unsteadily, as if they might be broken free from at any moment.
The Sea of Blossoms was not, after all, a Dao art designed for interrogation. It was not sufficiently superior in this regard.
This level of application was not enough to continue the interrogation.
But increasing the intensity further would very likely turn Shuanzi into a fool.
With no enmity between them, Jiang Chen was not yet so unscrupulous as to go that far.
He immediately changed the topic, soothing him, "Good, good, let's forget about this for now."
The whip lightly cracked, and the horse's hooves clattered.
The wheels turned with a rumble.
After a while, once Shuanzi had finally calmed down under the influence of the Dao art, Jiang Chen continued to ask, "Why was this azure stone mine vein exhausted so quickly?"
"I don't know. But I heard the steward say once that it seemed to have something to do with the Xi family."
The Xi family was precisely the family of the city lord of Jiacheng, and also the target Jiang Chen wanted to understand upon entering the city.
In the jurisdiction of Jiacheng, no matter what major events occurred, it was impossible to circumvent the Xi family.
Shuanzi's vague answer coincidentally matched Jiang Chen's speculation.
As the steward of the Hu Family Mine, Steward Hu surely knew something. But if there truly was a problem with this mine, Steward Hu himself would certainly be under covert surveillance.
It was precisely for this reason that Jiang Chen had not attempted to use a Dao art to lead Steward Hu into speaking.
Now, obtaining a clue from Shuanzi could not be considered a total loss.
Moreover, he had also noted a name: Hu Shaomeng.
As the son of Hu You, the county head of Qingyang Town, what role did the young master of the Hu family play in these events at the mine?
A seemingly simple event of a mine vein's exhaustion, the more closely one looked, the less simple it became.
Under such layers of cloud and mist, such heavy concealment, there was inevitably some great surprise worth hiding so thoroughly.
Or perhaps it was a great fright.
Jiang Chen casually released the Dao art.
Shuanzi continued to grip the reins, driving the carriage carefully. Just now, he had only felt as though his mind had drifted for a moment.
And the maidservant Xiaoxiao sat in a corner of the carriage, terrified of crowding Jiang Chen, her whole body almost curled into a ball.
The reason Jiang Chen had brought Xiaoxiao along to Jiacheng this time was entirely at her own request.
He understood her fear of the old man Ge, and thus had not refused.
Under the influence of the Dao art, she had heard none of the conversation between the two just now.
Her eyes were fixed on the embroidered surface of her shoes, only her ears pricked up, awaiting Jiang Chen's orders at any moment.
Very much in keeping with a maidservant's duty.
Easy to evoke a sense of pity.
But Jiang Chen had already closed his eyes again and re-entered meditation, continuing his cultivation.
It was the beginning of summer.
A peaceful carriage, on a deserted official road, heading toward a peaceful city.
Le Wen